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" We're better off at the top than anywhere else I think aren't we, so I'm not grumbling about that. There are another 40-odd games that we have got to get it right but at the moment we can only talk about what we are doing and what we are seeing, and we are doing and seeing some good things together. So hopefully we can keep that going.
" We're happy with seven goals but we're disappointed with four against, we don't like that side of it. It has been a bit open in the two league games, I suppose that in a sense the home game was probably down to Crewe. They came very open and I don't mind taking people on when people are open like that.
" I don't think that too many will come to Carlisle and play three up at corners against and stuff like that. Fair play to Crewe though, they felt that was their best chance of beating us and we managed to stem that. Both teams I thought provided some good football on the day, so if we get an open football match we know that we can compete well with most people I reckon.
" Our goals are coming from different areas, all four of my front players have scored a goal now in the first two or three games. We've scored off set-plays, we know that we can do that, direct from (Peter) Murphy at Shrewsbury to win the game. We've scored off set-pieces, a couple of corners at Bristol Rovers where we have been quick and bright to react to things. So they are all good things but we've got to make sure that we keep doing that. "
" I think that the standards get set by the players, they are the ones that put in the performances. I have to take the results good or bad, they have to take the performances good or bad. I think that is fair and it is the way that this football club is run, we are all accepting our responsibilities for what is happening at the football club. At the moment we are pleased with what we are doing.
" I think that we have got a duty to entertain if we can. We are trying to do that but I have a duty to win and that is my most important priority I think. I don't think that too many people would be patting us on the back if we had lost 4-2 and played exciting football and we had gone close on a couple of occasions.
" So we have got to get that balance right, I think that we have got players who are very, very capable of providing some exciting football, particularly when we are going forward. We think that we are just being a little bit loose in our defending, last year we had a good defensive record and Greg (Abbott) and I are a bit bothered about the fact that we have conceded four goals.
" So we have to look at that, we have worked at that this morning in training already. So we are trying to put that to rights because we think that if we keep a clean sheet then we have got people in this team who can find a goal. There is a good chance of winning a game as long as we don't concede, but we are not going to be able get three and four each time we conceded two, so we have got to stop making that difficult for ourselves.
" I think that strikers always like to score goals but again, I say to the players here that I will always judge their performances on the days that they don't score, because the goals are obvious for everybody to see. What did Danny Graham do at Bristol Rovers? I thought that he did a good job alongside Danny Carlton. What did Danny Carlton do on Saturday? I thought that he had a good game alongside Danny Graham. So I'm happy with that partnership, and I have just watched a reserve game and seen Gary Madine and Michael Bridges play together and they are already linking up with some nice things. "
" So I think that a lot of the training ground work that we are doing is looking decent and the players seem to be getting that into fruition and being positive with it, particularly at the front of the team. So there are some nice things from my front people and we have got to have enough of the ball to allow them to do that, so that is something that again we have got to work at doing.
" We've worked on a lot of parts of the game, particularly on us having the ball. We think that when we have the ball that we have got players very capable of doing some good things, and not just at the front of the team. We can work the ball well and there is some good movement off the ball, but we have worked hard at getting that side right.
" Against Rochdale today it was a tough first-half, everybody at even levels when they start off but we wore them down. In the second period once we had gone 2-1 ahead, Greg and I again felt that we could get three or four, and because the attitude of the lads was spot on that is what happened for them. I am really pleased for them because they are working hard to get my notice to get around this first-team, because everybody wants to be there.
" Chris (Lumsdon) is going to be out for three months at the moment. He has had an injection, which is the course of the specialist, he says that is going to need six weeks to settle. Then after that he has got six weeks build up, so he has pretty much got to start a pre-season again. So it takes us into three months before we get him boots on and shirt on and playing football.
" The other one that we've got a problem with now is Josh Gowling. He has taken a whack on the nose and that is broken, he has got to see a specialist this week, I think it is on Wednesday. He could be, once we see what the repercussions of that are, it could be anything between two to four weeks. So it just shows you that you can have a good time but we are going to be two players short for some period now. "
" I think it's important to bring someone in anyway, not just at the back, but to just try to improve the squad a little bit. I think that is important to try to look at that if we can. I've never closed my eyes to that, the injuries might make it a bit more important but I still think that it is important if we can. The board are supportive of me trying to do that to make the squad a bit thicker, and that is exactly what I am looking to do.
" Strengthening the bench is something that we are trying to do here, with great respect to the lads that have moved on a little bit, but since I came into the club the strength of the squad has got better. People like (Darren) Campion and (Gary) Madine have come to the fore, the young ones, Luke Joyce has been in that group now since we started.
" So they are beginning to really push a place at me now, and some of the older guys, maybe not the right phrase for them, but people like Michael Bridges and Cleveland Taylor have done very well this afternoon watching the reserve game. So everybody is spot on, the strength of the team, it often reflects in their bench, and we had a good one on Saturday. Players that can make a difference to the game, and that is important.
" We've discussed the time between Leyton Orient and Queens Park Rangers at length with the staff, the players will do what they are told basically because that is what it has got to be. If I open it up then we are going to have ten different ideas, so we decide that as a staff. We have already decided how we are going to do it. We travel down on Friday, train on the way down, as we did to Bristol Rovers, to Leyton Orient. We will come back, we have got the open training day here on Monday which is a nice day for everybody, the families and the players as well.
" After that though we will be travelling down to Queens Park Rangers and get that journey out of the way. It's a Bank Holiday weekend as well so we know that the Friday and Monday travelling whatever time we go, morning, noon or night, we are going to have busy motorways. So it's a bit of a toil but we are fortunate enough that we can get there the day before. It's going to be tough for the supporters as I've already said but I am sure that they will be there and we'll try to do our best for them. "